Maybe of interest since Oracle recently uses the term JRE to describe the Java applet plug-in alone (confusing!); and since users of OS X can now use two different versions concurrently (one version for the plug-in, a different version for apps that do not use the plug-in): How to best manage different java versions on Mountain Lion?
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Graham PerrinNov 3 '12 at 18:43

Thanks for the community edit, should there be a different link for the background reading?
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Graham PerrinJul 31 '12 at 5:34

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Java Preferences is no longer supported and is actually removed when one applies the Java 2012-006 update. This is part of Apple's move away from providing and supporting Java.
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BryanHJan 18 '13 at 22:39

@BryanH thanks – this answer was given some months before Java for OS X 2012-006 – see the linked question. Also please note that whilst Apple moves away from distributions of the JRE, we should not assume that Apple will cease to support Java.
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Graham PerrinJan 19 '13 at 6:55

Yes, thanks. I guess I should clarify that "support" means that Apple is no longer providing or answering technical questions about the Java Virtual Machine for OSX. It is up to Oracle (or another third party) to write and maintain said JVM.
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BryanHJan 21 '13 at 20:14